Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

69 Questions

I know in Islam there is the belief that Allah does not have a beginning or an end. So does that mean he cannot die? But could he cause himself to not exist anymore or does this go against the nature of God?

Hassanain Govani

Salaamun Alaykum

In addition to the previous reply, perhaps below might be useful:
Our understanding of concepts such as "life", "death" and "existence" is coloured by our experiences. Our frame of reference is the reality that we inhabit, and it cannot be any other way. Even when we use words such as "nature of God", it is our understanding of the words "nature" and "God".

Therefore, when we talk of God as being "Alive", "Everlasting", and such, our immediate frame of reference is our own lives and existence. When we see that we come from being non-existent into existence, that we live and die, we sometimes might think of God as being alive and existing in the same manner.

Some theologians and philosophers will explain that God, who is the "source" of all that exists, is existence Himself. Whereas our existence is contingent, meaning it's dependent and possible, God's existence (or perhaps God as existence) is necessary.

I hope that the above discussion has shed some light. At the end of the day, all of our ruminations and musings are limited by our own limitations.

Always in need of your prayers
Hassanain

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

Allah is The Everlasting Alive الحيّ ALHAYY and He never dies as He Created the life and death on all His creatures and He is above whatever He Created.

We have no ability to know or even think about Him, but we should think about what He Created. The Hadeeth says: Don't think in Allah's Self but think in Allah's creatures.

Wassalam.

What is the difference in the meaning of the terms آل الله and آل رسول? Is using titles like قمرآل الله for Hazrat Abbas or منتقم آل الله for Imam Mahdi appropriate?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

Aal Allah آل الله are in fact same as Aal Al-Rasool آل الرسول because Aal Al-Rasool are the pious Progeny of the Messenger whose obedience is obligatory on every Muslim being part and parcel of the obedience of the Prophet (SAWA) which is in fact the obedience of Allah (SWT).

Aal Allah are in fact Aal Al-Rasool as they are the Most obedient servants of Allah.

Wassalam.

What does this Ayat mean هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَى الْإِنسَانِ حِينٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْئًا مَّذْكُورًا? What was the condition of the human at this stage? Was he alive or in a dead condition? Does it refer to all humans or only Adam (a)?

Amina Inloes

Insan has been understood to refer to all human beings, or only Adam, but it does not change the meaning significantly. It seems most appropriate to understand it as referring to all human beings.

This ayah is understood to be a rhetorical question, along the lines of, "Was there ever any time when man was such an insignificant thing that he was not worthy of being mentioned?"

Here are 3 ways it has been understood:

(a) This could be after the process of creation of the human being had begun but before human beings had populated the earth.

This idea is supported by a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (A) that it refers to 'when he was created, but unworthy of mention'.

It is also narrated from Imam al-Baqir (A) that this verse means that 'the human being was mentioned in Allah's knowledge, but not in His creation'. That is, the human being had been decreed to exist, but did not exist yet on earth.

(b) Some exegetes also say this could be before the human was created at all. (The human only existed in the divine decree and knowledge, so the human was "mentioned" by God but not by anyone else.)

(c) It has also been understood to mean, "Was there ever any time when God was ignorant of the human being?" The answer to that is no, since God had knowledge of what He would create.

All of the meanings can work together too since the point is to emphasize the smallness of the human being compared to the divine, which is a theme that continues in the next ayah.